Week 43: Elephants, Rhinos, and Zebras....OH MY!!!

Hello Friends and Family,

This week was good. On Monday we went to Pilanesburg National park as a zone. It was tons of fun. We saw many animals up close and personal. We saw elephants, rhinos, zebras, warthogs, hyenas, wildebeests, giraffes, impalas, a cheetah, hippos, and many other animals. Of the Big 5 however, we only saw two, Elephants and rhinos. No lions, water buffalo, or leopards. They are there, they were just hiding or something. But it was a ton of fun. And rhinos have definitely become my favorite animal!

This week was filled with Elder Bindrup and I finding new people to teach. We are really focusing on finding the elect and sometimes that means finding 15 people a week and dropping 14 of them in the following weeks. We were able to find 13 new investigators this week all of which are very interested and loving people. It is such a joy to just walk the streets greeting people in their language and sharing the gospel with them. Some of my favorite days this week was when Elder Bindrup and I just walked, knocking doors and talking to people.

Transfers were this week as well. There won't be any changes in our district. We are super excited to all stay together and see the work flourish in our district.

Also yesterday morning we arrived to the chapel and about 10 minutes before the start of church I was asked to speak in church. Luckily I had been planning on being asked to speak in church and I had already planned a topic and a talk the previous Sunday. I was able to speak about the sacrament, the importance of it, and the importance of arriving to church on time. Funny enough right before we began the meeting one of the counselors leaned over to me and asked me if it was appropriate to administer the sacrament at the end of the meeting since not many members had showed up yet. The church is still very young here in Africa. They are learning. One thing that they do know and have is a strong testimony and love of this gospel. I have never met more devoted members of the church than those here in South Africa. Many are willing to sacrifice anything to keep the covenants they have made.

 Other than that not much happened this week. Elder Bindrup and I are just continuing to work hard and are excited to see the work really start to take off. I love you all. Have a great week. Talk to you next week.

Love Elder Rash

Pilanesburg National Park

Giraffes at Pilanesburg National Park

The GANG

Elder Rash enjoying his P-Day

That smile....

Zebra

Cute little girl in his area

Cute little girl in his area

King of the WORLD!

Soccer field near his area

Elder Rash, Elder Bindrup and members

Week 42: "I have never been happier..."

Hello Friends and Family! Happy Fathers day to all you old men! I hope all of my family is enjoying Lake Powell without me. Just kidding that's not possible without me there.

This week was slow but good. Tuesday I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Bishop in his area in Rustenburg. We had a good successful day.

Wednesday we packed up and headed to Roodepoort for a stake meeting, so we never set foot in our area on Wednesday, a little discouraging.  

On Thursday we had interviews and I had a wonderful interview with President Leavitt. I love that man so much. We talked quite a bit and I'm excited for what I can and will become in the next 14 months of my mission. We got back to our area around 3 pm on Thursday and tried making the most of the time we had. Finally the busy, frustrating part of our week was over.

Friday was a good day. But Saturday and Sunday were pretty awesome! Wanna know why? Because we parked the car all day and walked to our appointments and tracted most of the day. Elder Bindrup and I loved it and had so much fun just walking the dirt roads of South Africa. We found many people who will progress very well. We usually found them at the end of our day or time of tracting. Definitely Heavenly Father testing our faith and will to continue. Gotta love the moments when you knock on a door and they ask who it is and you tell them it's the missionaries and they respond with "We are sleeping"... So I respond "But you're talking?" lol. Good times. But what made it all worth it is when we found this sister named Kgomolemo and we taught her the restoration right then and there and invited her to baptism and she responds "I would love to". That is how we finished our Sabbath Day yesterday.

When it comes to investigators who attended church it was discouraging but it's all good. We had 1 investigator who attended church. It was his first time and he loved it. Despite our branches struggles with conducting a spiritual and uplifting sacrament meeting. Let's just say we had the speakers first and then the sacrament at the end of sacrament meeting because no one had brought bread. The adventures of Phokeng lol.

But Elder Bindrup and I are loving it and are having an amazing time. I have never been happier on mission.  Well I am out of time because we will be going to Philanesburg National Park soon with our zone. But I love you all. I'm grateful for all of the love and support you show me. Talk to you next week. 

Love Elder Rash
P.S. Congratulations Cassie and JD on the welcoming of a new baby. I'm sure she will cry the first time she meets me :)

Gave HIMSELF a haircut

Not to bad....

Week 41: Sometimes it's about sowing the seeds

Well apparently this Sunday it seemed like members and investigators all chose to take the Sunday off. We had very few members at church (around 15 when we started) and only 1 investigator showed up to church. It was quite frustrating, seeing how around 15 committed to coming. But these kind of days happen.

On a happy note Elder Bindrup and I were able to find a lot more people to teach this week. One of which, his name is Timothy. He is very excited to learn more about the gospel and he is very open to learning. He wasn't able to come to church this week but this coming week he should be there for sure. We will be putting him on date for baptism this week.

Elder Bindrup and I have also had a lot of lessons with people who probably won't end up progressing. I have really come to realize that it's not all about reaping. Sometimes it's about sowing the seeds. The spirit was very strong in these lessons and Elder Bindrup and I both know that these people felt the spirit. But sometimes it's about planting seeds for those who will come in the months and years following us. 

Elder Bindrup and I also had a very tender lesson with Edward earlier this week. So before we met Edward and Margaret, Edward was experiencing a very weird and difficult thing on the 26th of every month for the past 3 years. Each night on the 26th of every month Edward would wake up because it felt like someone was choking him and he could not breathe. He would also bite his tongue every time. This caused him to never be able to get sleep on the 26th of every month. He has been living in a bit of fear the past 3 years. Well Elder Bindrup and I met Edward and Margaret a few weeks before the 26th of May. In those weeks Edward has been reading the Book of Mormon and keeping the commitments we have been giving him. Earlier this week Edward, a 40 year old man, opened up to us and broke down in tears. He said "When the 26th of May came, nothing happened. On the 27th I was waiting for it to happen, but it never did. You are my angels. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I don't read these pamphlets because I know you guys are coming. I read them because it gives me power and I know it is true." Edward bore a simple but heartfelt and powerful testimony. We expressed to him that this miracle didn't happen because anything Elder Bindrup and I did but because of him exercising his faith by reading and praying. 

I know that miracles still happen to this day. Sometimes we do not see them or recognize them because of our lack of faith. All it takes is a particle of faith. As we let that particle of faith work in us it will grow. It will grow into a firm belief. And from a firm belief to a knowing. I have seen this progression in my own life and testimony. The first 17 years of my life my faith/belief was merely a particle. I didn't allow it to work in me. However, in 3 short years that small particle of faith has become a firm knowing and understanding. I know with all my heart that this gospel is true. This has grown as I have born this same testimony to countless strangers. I have never felt Gods love and presence more in my life as I do now. God is real. He is there. He loves us. 

Love Elder Rash
P.S. I am going to cut my own hair today so we will see how that turns out. I'll send pictures next week.
P.S.S Next week we are going to Philanesburg National Park for a Zone activity on P-Day. Also I'll have lots of pictures. 

View from a hike they took....

.....in their proselyting clothes!

More pictures of food!  At least I know he is eating well!

Week 40: Finding Golden investigators ready to hear the message

This week was another great week out here in Phokeng! Elder Bindrup and I had a pretty successful week. We are definitely seeing the work pick up and progress. We now have 4 investigators on date and had 4 at church yesterday, compared to the 1 at sacrament and 0 on date when we first got here.

Precious, the lady I spoke about last week came to church and is on date for baptism on July 22nd. She is doing great and progressing really well. Margaret and her husband weren't at church because they went back to their home (4 hours away) to visit their children. They are just renting this side for work. But they are both progressing really well. We are praying that Edward is able to come to church finally this Sunday. Another GOLDEN investigator we have met with this week is Eugene. Eugene is a 22 year old young man who is the brother to a Sis. in the ward. When we first arrived at his house he just kept welcoming us. Super friendly. As we started the lesson he began to open up to us. He mentioned how his sister had given him a Book of Mormon a while back and how he had been reading it but had kind of stopped. He also told us how he use to drink, smoke marijuana, and smoke cigarettes, but how he had stopped all of that on his own about 2 months ago now. He has seen many blessings in his life as he has begun to change his life. He recently got a job at one of the mines. The lesson we had with him was super powerful! We invited him to baptism on July 29th in our first visit with him. He quickly accepted. He loves coming to church and is there almost every week. He lives about a 30 min drive from the chapel but hops on a taxi every weekend after work so he can come to church.

Also this week I went on an exchange with Elder Neeley. That was a ton of fun! We get along really well and just had a great time doing the Lords work. He is an awesome missionary full of enthusiasm and humor. 

Also Elder Bindrup and I went to a basketball tournament of one of our investigators Thabiso, and member who comes with us all the time, Thsepo. That was a lot of fun to watch. It reminded me so much of my days of going to all day basketball tournaments. However, here it is outside on cement courts. The people here in Phokeng and the Northwest province are so passionate about basketball, I love it! 

Well Elder Bindrup and I are looking forward to another great week full of adventures and hard work. I love you all and will talk to you next week!

Love Elder Rash

Homemade salsa from home

Beautiful Sunflower field

Handsome Elder Rash

Elder Bindrup and Elder Rash

Chapel of Church building

Church building

Classrooms